Crime:  Crime threatens our families, communities, and the very stability of society. Moral and political failure are responsible for injustices such as repeat offenders often escaping punishment through the leniency of our judicial process. Jim has vowed to put an end to liberal soft-on-crime policies that have left us unprotected. He co-sponsored a bill that put psuedoephedrines, a key ingredient of meth, behind store counters making it much more difficult for meth to be produced. Since that time, the number of meth labs in the state has been cut by over 80%. Jim also supported legislation, like Jessica’s Law, that created tougher penalties for sex offenders, and he has pushed for GPS monitoring of sex offenders as well.

         Those who engage in criminal behavior must know that they will receive swift, sure and meaningful punishment that meets their crime. No criminal should escape the consequences of their crime by legal maneuvering or technicalities. Jim will continue to work for tougher sentencing, prison reform and juvenile justice reforms. It’s time to put the “P” back in punishment!

Education:  Education is rightly considered the paramount duty of the state. Far too many students continue to graduate without learning how to read efficiently, and are then being forced to take remedial classes in other subjects in order to be able to keep up in college. Education needs to be under more local control and less state control, with a focus on higher standards. We must pursue policies that will empower parents to find and take advantage of the very best education for their children. Too many state and federal mandates are stifling our teachers’ ability to impart vital knowledge to our children.
         There is also a great need for more school buildings to reduce overcrowding and large class sizes. While on the Capital Budget committee, Representative McCune worked for more funding to build more schools to meet this goal. In 2008, he secured $3.1 million in funding for the Pierce County Skills Center, which will provide comprehensive technical education for high school students to prepare them for advanced programs. He will also work to ensure that sufficient funds reach each classroom to cover supply costs and other necessities and will vote for other measures that will help lower classroom sizes and boost teachers’ salaries.

The Environment: Man’s stewardship of the environment is a sacred trust; any abuse of the environment is an affront to that trust. Government does play an important role in protecting the environment from misuse and abuse.

         Jim believes that plans to protect the environment must recognize that mankind, too, is a part of the environment and has a right and responsibility to use and develop the earth’s resources for the betterment of all. While protection of the environment is very important, we must also take care not to sacrifice the fundamental rights of the people in the process.

Family:  Families are the building blocks of society. Our nation has become as great as it is because we have had policies in place that support and strengthen the traditional family unit and marriage. Jim has been a strong advocate for families, and he will fight any attempts to redefine and weaken marriage and the family, such as the creation of “domestic partnerships” which in the end receive the same benefits as married couples.   

Public Land Use: Representative McCune strongly advocates the protection of free access to public lands for recreation and will work to keep management of fish and game at the state and local level. He will oppose federal encroachments in this area.
         Jim also has done what he can to guard against abuse of eminent domain and the buying up of land for purposes that serve little good. In 2008, he opposed a major land grab attempt by environmentalist interest groups called Y2Y, which could rightly be called the biggest government land grab attempt in our nation’s history. It attempted to seize a 500-mile wide swath of land stretching from the Yukon in Alaska to Yellowstone in Wyoming to be used exclusively (not open to public use) as a wildlife preserve to allow endangered species to migrate back and forth. Jim fought against the taking of Washington’s lands for such purposes, and will continue to fight such abusive public land use policies.

Second Amendment: Representative Jim McCune is endorsed by the National Rifle Association, and has been endorsed by Second Amendment rights groups every time he has run for office. He is committed to protecting your Second Amendment rights and will do all he can to protect honest, law-abiding citizens from infringement upon this core right.

Taxes:  Jim will oppose any attempt to raise taxes or to create a state income tax. Our government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. The businesses and people of this state pay too much of their hard-earned incomes in taxes as it is. Working families, retirees, property owners and job providers cannot thrive when they are over-regulated, overtaxed, and simply overwhelmed by overgrown bureaucracies and giveaway programs. As your State Representative, Jim will continue to work to cut taxes, like property taxes, B & O taxes, and estate (death) taxes.
         Under current leadership, spending has spiraled way out of control. Specifically, in the four years since I took office, the projected budget has increased by $8.2 billion from $25.2 billion to $33.4 billion—an outrageous 33% spending increase! This is because all the surplus from taxes, fees and regulations, due to an uptick in the economy, is being used up for new programs to keep certain interest groups happy. In 2008, the revenue forecast showed a drop of $423 million in revenue, which, at the current rate of spending, could very leave us with a deficit of $2.5 billion. This pattern of wasteful spending must be stopped, but it will not be stopped until the leadership in Olympia is changed, because the majority party controls the budget and spending.

Seniors:  We are all indebted in some way to our senior citizens. Because they have worked and fought to preserve our way of life so that we may continue to enjoy it, we should do what it takes to enable them to enjoythese years of their lives to the fullest.

       We should give them protection from burdensome taxes, especially for those on fixed incomes, and ensure that they have adequate funding assistance, particularly with their many medical expenses. Jim has opposed oppressive measures such as a proposed RV tax, and will continue to do what he can to help make life easier for seniors.

Transportation:  The Puget Sound region suffers from some of the worst traffic congestion in the country. One of Representative McCune’s main priorities is improving the traffic flow on our roads.

     He has worked for funding and action on important projects such as Highway 162 between Orting and Sumner, the Cross-Base Highway and the Yelm Bypass. He will continue to push for improvements to our state highways so we can begin to ease some of the gridlock that occurs often in the 2nd District.

Veterans: The son of a World War II veteran, Jim has a deep appreciation for the work our servicemen have done to protect our freedoms. In 2006, Rep. McCune introduced HB 2471 which gives funding assistance to veterans who are purchasing homes for the first time. It passed both houses unanimously and was signed into law by the governor. Jim has also sponsored bills for tuition waivers for higher education and property tax exemptions for disabled veterans.